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WASHINGTON – The 15th Annual Technology Initiative Grants (TIG) Conference, sponsored by the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), was held on January 14-16 at the Marriott Plaza San Antonio Hotel, 555 South Alamo Street, San Antonio, Texas.

The TIG Conference is the nation's largest gathering of experts and persons interested in the use of technology to address the civil legal needs of low-income Americans.

"For 15 years, LSC’s TIG conferences have brought together experts on the use of technology in civil legal aid to discuss new innovations and to network with a national community of colleagues," LSC Board Chair John Levi said. "These annual events have played a vital role in improving the delivery of legal services and fostering growth in the technology community."

Participants included legal aid staff members, technology consultants, software developers, leading academics, and lawyers from a variety of practice settings. The nearly 300 attendees shared information, exchanged ideas with colleagues from across the country, and explored innovative ways of using technology to promote access to justice for all Americans.

Conference highlights included:

An opening plenary featuring an international panel of experts discussing "Improving Access to Justice through Technology - A Global Perspective." (1/14/15, 8:30-10 a.m.)

Afternoon luncheons hosted by ABA President William Hubbard, LSC President Jim Sandman, and LSC Board Chair John Levi. (1/14/15 and 1/15/15, Noon-1:30 p.m.)

43 workshops on a range of legal technology issues, such as tools for data and business process analysis; online triage and intake; pro bono innovation; online forms; mobile innovations; video and gamification; and enhancing legal services operations such as phone systems, document management, and technology planning.

Pre-conference HotDocs and A2J Author training, featuring both a beginner track emphasizing HotDocs template development, and a management track covering how to plan, implement, and support an online forms project.

LSC’s Technology Initiative Grants (TIG) program was authorized by Congress beginning in 2000. Through 2014, LSC has funded more than 570 TIG projects, totaling more than $46 million. TIG funding has provided LSC with a remarkable opportunity to explore new ways to serve eligible persons and to help build legal aid grantee capacity. It has supported projects to develop, test and replicate technologies that improve client access to high quality legal information and pro se assistance. It has also helped programs enhance their overall information technology infrastructure.

Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is an independent nonprofit established by Congress in 1974 to provide financial support for civil legal aid to low-income Americans. The Corporation currently provides funding to 133 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.